Wolf
Canis lupus lupus
Classe: Mammals (Mammalia)
Order: Carnivorans (Carnivora)
Family: Canidae (Canidae)
Dimensions: Wolves are 110-148 cm long (without the tail) and 60-70 cm tall at the withers. They weigh 25 to 40 kilograms
Life: 8-10 years.
Habitat:
Wolves can adapt themselves very well to the Park’s diverse environments, such as woods and grasslands, and to different altitudes.
Diet:
Their diet is made up of wild boars, deers, roe deers, rodents and, occasionally, livestock. If preys are lacking they can also eat carcasses, berries and wild fruit.
Reproduction:
At the end of the winter only the highest ranking male and female mate.
Cubs:
In the spring, 2 to 6 pups are born, and stay with the mother and the pack for at least one year.
Curiosities:
The wolf’s most typical and fascinating call is the howling, which serves the purpose of signalling the wolf’s presence (territorial function) as well as of calling the other pack members.
Notes:
Wolves can live isolated or in small packs, in which both sexes are hierarchically organized.
Besides howling, a pack marks its territory with scent markings (urine and excrements).
In the Park:
Wolves are difficult to spot. They are nocturnal in their habits, and during the day they retreat to the Park’s wildest and most unreachable places.
The easiest traces to observe are their paw prints, which look like those of a big dog except they are disposed along a single line, and their excrements full of hairs.
Wolf
(photo by: Valentino Mastrella)
